Best Practices for Managing Remote Employees

Providing your employees with the appropriate resources to perform their tasks efficiently is essential, regardless of whether they work remotely on specific days or full-time. Utilizing the following tools can facilitate productivity, teamwork, and enhance the overall work experience of your employees.

Having a wide range of choices available, discovering tools that collaborate effectively to establish a smooth encounter for your staff can make a significant difference.

Establishing and maintaining high employee engagement is highly dependent on positive relationships at work. According to Gallup, having close friendships with colleagues can significantly enhance employees’ satisfaction with their organization. The research further indicates that employees who have work friends are more likely to:

Remote workers rely heavily on establishing connections and friendships with their coworkers, as they have fewer chances for in-person interactions. However, the lack of casual interactions also means that fostering and maintaining these relationships requires more intentional effort.

Unless the management, team members, and leaders of the organization invest time and energy in building relationships with their remote employees, the latter may feel excluded and isolated.

Although some collaboration occurs during planned meetings or structured brainstorming sessions, a significant portion of it arises during spontaneous, informal discussions outside of these formal gatherings. To perform their best, remote employees must experience a sense of professional attachment to their company through collaboration. When teams fail to make a consistent effort to collaborate and interact with their off-site colleagues, they may proceed with decisions and initiatives without consulting all relevant parties. A recent survey indicated that 86% of participants attributed workplace failures to inadequate team collaboration.

Failing to involve remote employees can lead to them feeling uninformed and undervalued, while also causing your organization to miss out on their valuable insights and expertise. Therefore, it’s important to follow remote-work best practices and be careful to include remote team members in crucial decision-making and project breakthroughs. While this may be difficult, it is achievable with the right tactics and resources.

Develop a policy for remote work that outlines expectations and guidelines for remote employees to ensure compliance. It is essential to customize these policies according to your organization’s needs, industry, and the specific responsibilities of each employee. This involves establishing policies concerning:

If your organization provides a mix of hybrid, virtual, and on-site job opportunities, it is essential to clearly define the policies that are applicable to remote personnel in contrast to those with distinct working hours. This will ensure that all individuals are informed of the expectations from the outset.

When managing remote employees who are in different time zones, it can be difficult to ensure availability for impromptu meetings. To overcome this challenge, it’s important to establish expectations for when team members can expect to reach each other. It’s also important to be mindful of time differences when scheduling meetings. To avoid miscommunication, it’s best to establish guidelines for responding to messages and emails outside of working hours. This can be done by setting reasonable expectations for response times and communicating these guidelines from the beginning.

Collaborating with colleagues, either individually or as a team, has numerous advantages such as fostering a strong company culture, building rapport, and enhancing engagement. Even when working remotely, face-to-face meetings remain critical. Thanks to video conferencing platforms like Zoom, Skype, and Google Meet, you can easily convene with your team virtually as if you were in the same room. It’s not a secret that getting to know your coworkers is easier in person. Therefore, consider dedicating a few minutes at the beginning of each virtual meeting to use icebreaker questions or encourage employees to chat about their day. Despite being a small gesture, it can make a significant difference.

Finally, it’s essential to ensure that remote workers will find the meeting worthwhile. We’ve all been in meetings that could have been an email or felt like a waste of time. To prevent this, make each meeting count.

Conducting virtual meetings can pose certain distinct difficulties, particularly when some team members are physically present in the office while others are working remotely. Apart from technical glitches that cannot be prevented at times, remote employees tend to be less participative. Establish a set of directives for your team to adhere to during meetings and motivate them to participate actively.

Below are a few ideas for keeping remote meetings accessible and engaging for everyone:

According to a recent survey, 70% of the respondents expressed their desire for more frequent check-ins on a daily or weekly basis. To boost employee engagement, it is recommended to conduct regular check-ins, even if there is no urgent matter to discuss. These check-ins can be in various forms, such as daily team meetings or one-on-one sessions with each team member. It is crucial to keep in mind that the check-ins should not consume too much time, and a duration of 15 to 20 minutes is sufficient.

These quick check-ins are ideal for:

Remote teams must also engage in team building. Virtual team building involves getting team members to work together, exchange skills or experiences, attend online events, or simply enjoy each other’s company.Virtual team building helps to enhance team cohesion and increase employee motivation. Whether you’re playing a trivia game, asking each other engaging icebreaker questions, or having a virtual lunch break together, making an effort to socialize with remote team members can help them feel more connected and invigorated.

Gift-giving is not limited to holidays or important events. It can have a positive impact on employees’ productivity and motivation, as well as strengthen relationships and boost morale. Furthermore, a survey revealed that 57% of employees are inclined to remain loyal and continue working for a company that gives gifts. Therefore, it is important to carefully consider the gifts and opt for something meaningful and personal, like physical cards, letters, or swag packages.